Tuscon Bishop Expects Pope Francis to 'Prod' Congress on Amnesty Bill - Breitbart

 

The former vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops believes that Pope Francis will try to “prod” lawmakers to pass comprehensive amnesty legislation when he address Congress in September.

Tuscon Bishop Gerald Kicanas told the House Judiciary Subcommittee Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security on Wednesday that immigration is an issue that is “dear to his heart” and mentioned that Pope Francis has already criticized the European Union for not being as welcoming to North African and Middle Eastern immigrants. He noted that Pope Francis’s first pastoral visit was to a Mediterranean island to pray for migrants who have drowned while trying to get to Europe.

When Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) asked Kicanas what he thought Pope Francis will say on immigration when he addresses Congress in September, Kicanas said he did not know for certain. But Kicanas said he believes Pope Francis “will prod the Congress to move forward with courage and conviction” with a “comprehensive” amnesty bill that includes a “pathway to citizenship,” border security, “more legal ways for people to come here,” provisions for “reuniting families” and “helping these sending countries” so migrants who do not want to leave their home country can remain.

Though Pope Francis will not have time to visit Mexico this year, he has said that, “to enter the United States from the border with Mexico would be a beautiful gesture of brotherhood and support for immigrants.”

Read the entire article:  Tuscon Bishop Expects Pope Francis to 'Prod' Congress on Amnesty Bill - Breitbart

Cardinal Dolan’s comments on Archdiociese HHS Mandate lawsuit

Judge Cogan’s decision last week turned back a motion by the administration to have our lawsuit dismissed.

The Archdiocese of New York, ArchCare, and CHSLI remain as plaintiffs.) That’s significant, because the administration has been successful in getting some of the other cases dismissed, but in his decision Judge Cogan found that there was very real possibility that we plaintiffs would “face future injuries stemming from their forced choice between incurring fines or acting in violation of their religious beliefs.”

Click on the following to read the entire piece:  http://blog.archny.org/index.php/hhs-mandate-decision/

As John Carr, Catholic policy adviser, retires, Catholics worry who will replace him - The Washington Post

By Michelle Boorstein,

Catholics are becoming more divided over whether they focus on church teachings against war and poverty or the ones against abortion and gay marriage. Catholic progressives are particularly worried about Carr leaving as Church officialdom in recent years has put greater and greater emphasis on defending the unborn.

Click on the following for more details:  As John Carr, Catholic policy adviser, retires, Catholics worry who will replace him - The Washington Post

Letter to Editor: : Catholic claims undermine freedom

Letter: Catholic claims undermine freedom

 

EDITOR: The call for a "Fortnight for Freedom" by Cardinal Timothy Dolan in reaction to the supposed "unprecedented incursion into freedom of conscience" of the Affordable Care Act seems a classic Orwellian reversal of reality. The assertion by Cardinal Dolan that the Affordable Care Act imposes restrictions on religious freedom by requiring insurance companies to provide contraceptives as preventive care with no deductible or copay is just the opposite of the truth.

No one is asking Catholics (the majority of whom now use contraceptives) to violate their conscience. The use of contraceptives is a free choice. The actions of Cardinal Dolan seek to deny this choice to anyone who does not agree with the Cardinal's beliefs or the doctrines of the Catholic Church.

In this context, it is the Cardinal who is the actual threat to the freedom of religion -- it is the Cardinal who seeks to impose an "unprecedented incursion into the freedom of conscience" on all those who do not agree with him.

We are witnessing the rebirth of Christian religious fundamentalism in America, and the "Fortnight for Freedom" is a manifestation of the intolerance and repressiveness that grow out of such extremist movements. It is this fundamentalism that is the real threat to freedom -- religious or otherwise.

Interpreting the need for sensible healthcare for Americans as an attack on religion or conscience is about as far from upholding true Christian values as one could possibly imagine.

Dave Svetlik,

Kronenwetter

Above is taken from:  Letter: Catholic claims undermine freedom | Wausau Daily Herald | wausaudailyherald.com

Rich Wentzel: Bishops are wrong on ‘Obamacare’

 

 

Rich Wentzel: Bishops are wrong on ‘Obamacare’

 

July 09, 2012 4:30 am  •  Rich Wentzel

Dear Editor: A few years back, Pope Benedict XVI and other church leaders said it was “the moral responsibility of nations to guarantee access to health care for all of their citizens, regardless of social and economic status or their ability to pay.” Now, however, Cardinal Timothy Dolan through the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is promoting a campaign to curb the implementation of an aspect of the Affordable Care Act, specifically that aspect requiring insurance companies to provide contraceptives as preventive care. The claim is that somehow this violates religious freedom even though no Catholic would be asked to use contraceptives.

Jesus did not bow to the authoritarian hierarchy of the ruling religion and saw his own way to the truth, much as the majority of Catholics have done on the contraception issue. In their obsession with blocking women’s access to birth control, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops seems intent on thwarting the work being done to provide access to a more coherent, affordable plan for health care in our nation.

The Affordable Care Act offers greater care to more people at lower cost as a nation. Dolan’s plan would thwart that goal by keeping the overall pool of participants smaller and continuing to drive health care costs up. In the end, he is asking Catholics and non-Catholics alike to pay more while trying to block a worthy moral and economic goal.

Rich Wentzel

Taken from the following:  Rich Wentzel: Bishops are wrong on ‘Obamacare’

Michele Somerville: Cardinal Dolan Has a Lot of Explaining to Do

 

When the Cardinal finishes being silent, he'll have some explaining to do.

He spoke to the New York Post on June 4 but didn't say much. He didn't deny making the payments, but he described the Times' claim that he had as "groundless", and took a shot at New York City's paper of record. Isn't his admission grounds enough for a reporter to go with the story?

Waiting out the scandal may prove difficult for Timothy Dolan with so many time-sensitive projects at hand: the USCCB's (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) unofficial campaign for Romney, the lead-up to to "Fortnight for Freedom" -- a "two-week period of prayer, education and action in support of religious freedom, from June 21-July 4," and the ongoing war against "ObamaCare."

The allegations at hand (that Dolan paid off pedophile priests in Milwaukee) are so very serious that even Catholics who are disappointed in Dolan are reluctant to believe that the United States' top priest would have have paid a handful of pedophile priests to just go away --instead of turning them over to the Milwaukee District Attorney's Office.

Click on the following to read the entire article;  Michele Somerville: Cardinal Dolan Has a Lot of Explaining to Do

Georgetown gets it right on invitation to Kathleen Sebelius - The Washington Post

THE ARCHBISHOP of Washington finds it “shocking” that Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia would defend the university’s decision to have Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius participate in a commencement event in the aftermath of the furor over the Obama administration’s rule on contraceptive coverage.
What we find shocking is Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s failure to credit the proper role of a university and the importance of vigorous, open debate, even — or perhaps especially — involving matters of intense controversy and religious disagreement. Mr. DeGioia was right to stand up for the selection of Ms. Sebelius to speak at a Public Policy Institute awards ceremony during commencement weekend and to cite the university’s role in promoting this sort of exchange of ideas. The cardinal’s public slap-down of what he termed Georgetown’s “unfortunate decision” fails to recognize that critical academic function.

Click on the following to read all of this opinion piece:  Georgetown gets it right on invitation to Kathleen Sebelius - The Washington Post

A War on Nuns? : The New Yorker

April 19, 2012

A War on Nuns?

Posted by Amy Davidson

What seemed to bother the Vatican’s investigators was not that nuns were speaking out on political matters, but that they were failing to engage politically in the way the Church wanted them to: the L.C.W.R. had been ….

What would this look like? In 2009, a woman arrived in the emergency room at St. Joseph’s hospital in Phoenix. She was twenty-seven years old, eleven weeks pregnant, and she was dying. Her heart was failing, and her doctors agreed that the only way to save her life was to end her pregnancy, and that her condition was too critical to move her to another, non-Catholic hospital. The member of the ethics committee who was on call was Sister Margaret McBride. She gave her approval, under the theory that termination of the pregnancy would be the result but not the purpose of the procedure. The woman, who had four small children, went home to them. When the Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix heard what happened, he excommunicated Sister Margaret on the spot. A Church that had been so protective of priests who deliberately hurt children—keeping them in its fold, sending them, as priests, to new assignments—couldn’t tolerate her. A spokesman for the diocese called her a party to “murder.” (Sister Carol, speaking for the C.H.A., expressed support for what she had done in a “heartbreaking situation.”) Sister Margaret was able to take communion again after she repented. The hospital and the Church ultimately ended their affiliation

Click on the following for more details:  A War on Nuns? : The New Yorker

Catholic Church Reveals Drop in Sex Abuse Cases; Validity of Report Questioned

 

The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, the ninth annual audit by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which deals specifically with sex abuse cases, found that the church spent $144 million in the past year to deal with such issues. A total of 489 people reported credible allegations of abuse against 406 priests or deacons, up from 2010 when such accusers numbered 428, while there were 346 offending priests.

Of the $144 million spent on settlement-related cases, $50 million went for settlements alone, $37 million was spent on attorneys' fees, $10 million was used to provide support for offenders, while $6 million was spent on therapy for abuse victims, who also benefited from the above mentioned settlement money.

Click on the following for more details:  Catholic Church Reveals Drop in Sex Abuse Cases; Validity of Report Questioned

 

Don’t forget to look at the actual report.  Click on the following:  http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/child-and-youth-protection/upload/2011-annual-report.pdf

 

Page 32

Page 35--2011 Victims are primarily male.and pre-teen or teenage

Page 38
Costs to Dioceses and Eparchies in 2011
Dioceses and eparchies that responded to the survey
and reported costs related to allegations paid
out $107,814,410 in 2011. This includes payments
in 2011 for allegations reported in previous years.
Thirty-four responding dioceses and eparchies
reported no expenditures in 2010 related to allegations
of sexual abuse of a minor. Table 2 compares
payments by dioceses and eparchies from 2004
through 2011 across several categories of allegationrelated
expenses. The total costs reported by dioceses
and eparchies in 2011 are $9,451,263 more than
those reported in 2010.
Almost half of the payments by dioceses and eparchies
in 2011 (46 percent) were for settlements to victims.
Attorneys’ fees constituted an additional third (34
percent) of the total cost ($36,737,366).1 Support for
offenders (including therapy, living expenses, legal
expenses, etc.) amounted to another 9 percent of
allegation-related costs ($9,862,110).2 An additional 5
percent of the total cost was for payments for therapy
for victims (if not already included in the settlement).

 

Equally Blessed calls on groups to cut ties to NOM - 93 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News - Windy City Times

April 4--Equally Blessed, a coalition of four Catholic justice organizations, today called on the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, to publicly disassociate themselves and their organizations from the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).
The group wrote to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson after documents unsealed in a court case in Maine revealed that in opposing marriage equality NOM sought to "drive a wedge" between the black and LGBT communities and the Latino and LGBT communities.
"Fostering hostility and hatred is something that violates the very fundamentals of our faith," the group wrote to Dolan. "Our Church stands for unity among all, regardless of race or ethnicity. We should be promoting understanding, love and the inherent dignity of all people."
The U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has worked closely with NOM in opposing marriage equality in a number of states, including the current campaign to reverse same-gender marriage legislation in the state of Washington. The Knights of Columbus donated more than $1.9 million to NOM between 2008 and 2009 alone, according to the group's annual reports.
In their letter to Anderson, the group said: "We believe that if all of the faithful Knights around the country knew that their leaders have spent millions of dollars fighting marriage equality, rather than spending it on the social programs that the faithful Knights expect, they would be outraged."
The strategy memo was among a number of documents unsealed last week by a federal judge. It revealed that in addition to turning ethnic communities against he LGBT community, NOM also sought to find children willing to speak out against their LGBT parents.
"A strategy that deliberately tries to divide families is shameful," said Lourdes Rodriguez-Nogués, president of Dignity USA. "Being a lesbian makes me no less Cuban that I was before I came out, no less Catholic, no less a part of my family. Latino families want what is best for each of their members and know that anything that oppresses one of us oppresses all of us."
In addition to calling upon Dolan and Anderson to publicly disassociate themselves and their organizations from NOM, Equally Blessed is also launching a social media campaign: #CatholicNoToNOM to raise awareness of the NOM's tactics.
"We hear frequently that marriage equality would be detrimental to the family," said Casey Lopata, co-founder of Fortunate Families. "But it is the National Organization for Marriage that is seeking to tear families apart."
Equally Blessed includes four organizations that have spent a combined 115 years working on behalf of LGBT people and their families: Call To Action, DignityUSA, Fortunate Families, and New Ways Ministry.

Equally Blessed calls on groups to cut ties to NOM - 93 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News - Windy City Times

Despite Cardinal Dolan’s Claims, Government Has Long Defined “Ministry” - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.

Doesn’t the federal government already define “ministry” in various programs and regulations? The IRS has specific provisions in tax law to administer regarding the tax treatment of ministers and their parsonages. As we have noted in previous coverage, the federal government and the courts have long been debating what constitutes a ministry for the purpose of religious entities looking for exemptions for civil rights laws regarding nondiscrimination in hiring.

Click on the following to read the entire story:  Despite Cardinal Dolan’s Claims, Government Has Long Defined “Ministry” - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.